Nightmare Woon
by Whalesareawesome
Summary: Nightmare Moon always had a backup plan if she ever were defeated; she would slowly regenerate herself and regain her power. The problem is she never expected to come back as a defenseless filly or return directly in front of the princesses. As punishment for her past crimes, Nightmare is sentenced to learn the magic of friendship beside Twilight Sparkle. She's not happy about it.
1. Prologue

When Nightmare Moon fell to the Elements of Harmony, every pony believed the vile mare had forever been defeated. However, none knew that in all her time on the moon, she had been planning not just her escape, but her return if she were to fall. Were the Elements to strike her down once more, she would use all her strength to escape her alicorn host and become little more than mere energy. Slowly, she would gather power and, like the phoenix, be reborn.

All about Equestria, Nightmare's dark energy littered the air. Invisible to the naked eye, no pony saw, smelt, or even felt the terrible essence floating about their homes. It nudged and scraped against every wall, stone, and cloud; biding its time. Waiting for it's time to merge and become the terror of the planet once more.

Up high in Canterlot, the wind jubilantly tossed the leaves about into a colorful dance of reds and oranges. Tri-colored hair partnered itself with the leaves in their bountiful dance. Celestia smiled while her swaying mane blew about in its own direction, ignoring the wind completely. Beside her a lavender unicorn smiled back to the tall pony..

"I'm glad you came to Canterlot to visit, Twilight. I always enjoy our meetings."

"Thank you Princess." Twilight happily answered back, tearing her eyes away from the rich colors that laced the Canterlot Castle gardens.

"Yes! We doth most enjoy thine visits Twilight Sparkle!" hollered Luna, the recently re-established princess of the night.

Purple hair shot back in the wake of Luna's powerful lungs, unable to stand up to the princess's cry. Twilight forced another smile as Luna blew a wall of wind into her face, which smelled oddly of garlic and peppermint. After her gums finished flapping from the force of Luna's voice, Twilight spoke.

"I enjoy the-" Twilight paused to let the world stop spinning. For a second, she swore she saw Pinkie with green face paint and a long snout, riding a broomstick, and cackling about a wizard and munchkins. "I enjoy the visit's too, Princess Luna." she replied, her eyes still softly twirling in their sockets.

"Tell us Twilight Sparkle! How goes the friendship quest!?" Luna released a windstorm in every word. Around them, the statues shook and windows wobbled lightly under her gale force voice.

Librarian legs were not meant to go against winds rivaling those of hurricanes. As such, Twilight skid back ten inches on the hard cobblestone path before flipping over completely. Not wanting to embarrass herself in front of her mentor, Twilight quickly rose back to her hooves and responded to the mare of the night.

"Well, it's been pretty quite lately. I think the most that has happened is Pinkie argued with Applejack about whether boots are for eating or not."

"Why, that is preposterous." Luna cried, careful to keep her voice at tolerable levels.

"I know. Pinkie swore they were for boiling and eating." Twilight responded with a light chuckle.

"One does not simply boil a boot!" The princess of the night declared.

"That's what I tried to tell h-"

"Boots must be marinated then rolled in bread crumbs!" Luna decreed.

"What?"

"It's a long story Twilight. We had a hard winter one year when we were fillies." Celestia told her pupil. The warm smile she wore never once left the white mare's face. Twilight nodded back at her teacher, accepting Celestia's explanation and not questioning the matter any further.

For a moment, Twilight stood still, her eyes locked of the gentle push and pull of the plants around her. Her mind's gears began to grind away for the thousandth time that day. Fillies, whenever Twilight imagined the princesses, she always envisioned them as they were now; tall, majestic, and powerful. It never crossed her mind that they too were ponies and had a fillyhood. She wondered what creatures such as them could possibly have been like as children. Who took care of them, and what it was like to care for an alicorn?

Twilight opened her mouth for inquire into this when several glows came to life in mid-air. Both princesses raised a brow at the sudden phantom glows. Immediately more appeared, then more and more, each emanating a faint purple light. Slowly the purple glows came together into a bundle. Grey soaked into the vegetation surrounding the hovering glowing sphere. Small pieces of greenery below it withered and died instantly.

"W-what's going on?" Twilight stuttered.

Neither Princess Luna nor Princess Celestia had an answer for the frightened mare. Despite their own worry, the pair kept stoic faces and lit up their horns in preparation for whatever would come from the glowing sphere.

Surges of electricity sparked and shot out from the light-emitting ball, freezing anything they touched. The purple sphere turned a dark shade and descended to the ground. Grey cobblestone cracked and shifted in its presence. Directly under it the ground turned a sickly violet, humming and glowing to the rhythm of a heart. The sphere exploded in a flash of light and familiar laughter filled the air.

Smoke bellowed from the ground the sphere exploded over. In place of the glowing ball was a pitch black pony, adorned in blue armor and purple eye shadow. She released a malevolent smile. Celestia, Twilight, And Luna could only gape in shock at the sight.

"Remember this day you foals, for it is your last. Now the night. Will last. Forever!" she cackled. A blaze of blue sparked from her horn and quickly grew to envelope the entire length.

In the castle, a unicorn known as Penstrokes Scribe continued work on his novel. It would be a wondrous tale of a evil creature once banished returning to life with no memories of its past. Only through the kind love of a librarian pony would it defeat it's inner evil. Just as he came to climax where the beast was taken away from its caretaker, the candle beside the stallion went out.

"What the?" he asked himself. Shrugging, he magically thumbed around the drawer below him. A red match floated up out of the desk then struck a piece of sandpaper beside him. Immediately he relit his candle and continued his tale.

Nightmare's head made a slow tilt. Her reptilian eyes scanned the still very bright world around her in search for a star in the sky or a patch of darkness on the ground.

"What just happened?" she asked before gazing upon a massive white alicorn. "What the hay!? When did you become a giant!?" she screamed at Celestia. Seconds later a magical force yanked the black alicorn into the air.

Small legs thrashed at the yellow aura keeping Nightmare's body hoisted in the air. The dark goddess's horn lit up in a deep blue glow in her attempt at wringing the white alicorn's neck. Instead of a magical noose, the black pony received the equivalent of gently tossing a small pebble in Celestia's face.

"This is Nightmare Moon?" Twilight asked.

"We highly doubt it. Who art thou! And how did'st thou create thine ball of light!?" Luna asked, managing to push Nightmare back a couple of inches with her voice.

"I am the true princess of the night! I am Nightmare Moon!" The pony replied with a smirk, despite the golden aura that clung to her body and imprisoned her within the air. "Now die!"

Deep blue energy seeped out from the pitch black pony's horn again. Magical aura illuminated a small spot of her golden prison, but was quickly pushed back by Celestia's power. Back in the castle, Penstrokes Scribe continued to write what would surely be his masterpiece. The flickering flame beside him became shrouded and in a deep black, then died.

"Oh come on..."

"What - what was that?! That was supposed to smother you in darkness." Nightmare uttered in pure disbelief.

"Princess Celestia. Why is she a filly?" Twilight asked.

"I'm not sure." Celestia stated calmly as she brought the black foal closer to her face. Her eyes scanned over the small form of Nightmare Moon. Everything about the foal indicated it was in fact the Mare in the Moon, just a smaller version of her.

"Filly!? How dare you!" Arcane power flowed into the filly's horn, resulting in a few magic sparks flying out.

The young body of the dark alicorn pushed hard against her magical prison. Her muscles stretched as far as they would go in her attempt to break free of her restraints. Celestia's magical hold proved far superior to the child alicorn's physical strength, wearing her down in less than a minute.

"We believe the child's age doth have something to do with her lack of magical prowess." Luna said while she delivered a hard glare onto the filly.

Celestia nodded.

Nightmare's eyes locked firmly on the glasslike form of a pond. A small black filly in sky blue armor met her gaze. Altogether, the alicorn ceased breathing and her heart skipped a beat or two. She failed to find the words to properly express her feelings at the realization the filly staring back at her was herself.

"Twilight, would you like to accompany me and Luna to the royal laboratories? I'm going to run a few tests on the child to see if she really could be Nightmare Moon."

If there were a list of subjects Twilight loved the most, it would go Celestia/her parents, books, and science; in that order. Lavender ears perked up immediately at the mention of science. Giddy joy quickly welled up in the studious mare's heart, prompting her to shake her head vertically fast enough to produce a faint buzz in the air.

Celestia smiled once more in response and ushered her student to her, then trotted off into the royal laboratories. There, many tests were administered to the black alicorn. Being a kind mare at heart, Celestia refused any of the more gruesome tests but still allowed a few pokes and prods to the foal.

Luna secretly enjoyed the tests that inflicted any amount of pain on the child. She would momentarily feel bad for her amusement at another's suffering, but then she remembered this creature was most likely Nightmare Moon and the guilt lessened. Nightmare yelped once or twice when they needed to draw blood, but the remainder of the tests proved harmless.

After many tests the filly was proven to Nightmare Moon. Minutes after, the armored child found herself dragged into the throne rooms. Celestia's arcane grip on her tightened enough to release a audible "pop" from a few of the alicorn's joints. Yellow magic made way for blue when Celestia handed the villain off to Twilight for holding.

The sisters strode forward five feet and turned to face the criminal.

"What shalt we do with her? Banish the criminal back to the moon?" Luna inquired toward her elder sibling. Nightmare's eyes widened to the size of plates, while her pupils dropped to the width of a gnat.

"We don't have that power anymore, Luna. I don't think she would survive on the moon either."

"We do not see that to be an issue, dear sister."

"Luna! We aren't going to kill anypony!" Celestia shouted.

"Forgive us Tia. We merely harbor a intense dislike for the Nightmare." Luna scanned the hovering child with her eyes, noting the sweat rolling down the filly's sides. Hot, heavy breaths reached from the eldritch foal's mouth, all the way to Luna's ears where they pounded against her eardrums like oars against the ocean waves. Acting as counterpoint to Nightmare's horror, Twilight stood perfectly still in wait for the Princesses to make their judgment call. Luna smiled at Twilight's patience. "We - er. I," she said, finally correcting her linguistic era. "believe I have a solution."

"Oh?" Celestia asked. Twilight leaned in with anticipation. Nightmare cowered in fear, sure she was going to die a painful death.

"Nightmare Moon. For your crimes against Equestria. You will be se sentenced," Twilight leaned in further and Nightmare felt her heart crash against her ribs in her chest. "to learn the magic of friendship alongside Twilight Sparkle."

"What!?" both Twilight and Nightmare yelled.


	2. One Week Later

"I will kill this creature!" Nightmare declared. Black hooves pounded into the ground around her, reducing patches of perfectly green grass to a dank brown soup of torn roots and slurry. Her legs sunk into their hoof-made mud mixture and pushed upward to propel Nightmare's body up into the air. Nightmare achieved her ambition and lifted three feet into the air, all the while the furry being riding upon her back refused to let go.

"Sir Angel Bunny of the Court of Fluttershy fears no beast!" the animal declared in a language only woodland creatures could understand. Immediately Sir Angel's eyes caught the deep blue of the wild beast's black magic. Such an occurrence meant only one thing: the beast would strike again. His long, slender white legs ejected the brave bunny off the eldritch pony.

Nightmare snarled and sent a telekinetic wave toward the spot Angel once stood. However, since the annoying furred vermin no longer rode upon on her back, she merely ended up yanking her own tail instead. The force of the pull toppled Nightmare's balance, sending her plummeting into the brown and green slick below.

"Ha! Take that knave! This is a victory for the Court of Fluttershy. None defeat the will of the Stare Master."

The vile monster that Fluttershy dubbed "Nightmare" rose from the mud. It's face twisted and contorted in fury. Such fury Sir Angel had only seen once before when Madame Fluttershy became "New Fluttershy" and tossed about her friends. Sir Angel stood his ground and quickly reminded himself the beast was just a child, hardly a true threat.

Nightmare leapt at the bunny, intent to kill at its fullest. Angel grabbed a pocket watch on the ground beside him and leapt into the air after her. For a second the world went in slow motion. The two approached each other in the air, both ready to lay down their final blows. Nightmare never delivered her attack, instead she received the blunt end of a brass watch to the cheek.

"Victory for the good Madame Fluttershy!" Angel declared, crawling atop his fallen foe.

Behind Nightmare a massive purple oak rose from the dirt, casting a long shadow over the fallen alicorn's body. Twilight watched from its entrance with annoyance, shaking her head in disapproval. Deciding to keep Nightmare Moon was quickly becoming Twilight's biggest regret every day.

When the idea of harboring a known criminal in Ponyville was brought to Twilight, she was hesitant, to say the least. However, the mare trusted Luna's wisdom and accepted her decree. With reluctance, Twilight took the duty of watching over the child; mostly because she felt she was one of the few who wouldn't immediately want to kill the pony. At the moment though, that didn't sound like a bad idea.

"Nightmare. That's enough. The Crusaders are going to be here any minute." The child pulled her face from the soup, with thick streams of mud trailing from her face to the ground. Behind Nightmare, Angel Bunny returned to his master, Fluttershy, to continue searching for some lost chickens.

"I don't care who's coming. I am Nightmare Moon, the true princess of the night! I will not do anything you, that cake guzzling black hole, or the stuck-in-the-medieval-period moron tell me to do." the child hissed with burning hatred.

"Nightmare. You've been sitting around the library, doing nothing but read books, try to set Spike on fire, and practice your levitation. Princess Luna says you have to study the magic of friendship alongside me."

"Or what." she snarled with a deep scowl.

"You could be executed. That's what." Nightmare's pupils dilated.

"Fine... I'll meet these 'Crusaders', but I won't like it."

"And don't try to light them on fire or freeze them."

"Oh come on!"

The patter of small hooves halted the conversation between student and eldritch monstrosity. In the distance a wall of orange, white, and yellow rose up from the horizon. A trio of fillies slowly tread toward the library.

Fear coursed through Sweetie's young legs, screaming at her to run away and not face the upcoming horror. Only the reassurance of Twilight Sparkle's protection pushed her further.

Beside her, an orange pegasus's eyes looked as if they were she were about to fall asleep. From her mouth slid odd curses about having to play with Nightmare Moon and Princess Luna being a bit of a jerk. Unlike Sweetie Belle, she felt no fear over the alicorn. Her only issue was her own belief hanging out with Nightmare would be the equivalent of standing indefinitely beside Diamond Tiara. Angry hisses dripped from her as the image of Diamond Tiara entered her head.

Applebloom did not fear the child they would meet. Granny Smith told her to do her best to be a good example for Nightmare, that no pony could be completely bad. Besides, Applebloom had seen her at the town meeting where the alicorn's residency was announced. If anything, the beaver that attacked the black filly on stage proved to Applebloom: Nightmare was no longer a threat.

Nightmare watched the trio take their time to trot up to her. Quickly, she noted how Sweetie Belle kept her distance. Reptilian eyes met the Crusaders' own and glared back at them. There was little but anger and hate in the black creature's gaze.

In the crusader's eyes, the innocence of a child twinkled beautifully like a cave of crystals in the light. It danced, swayed, and mocked Nightmare with its existence. They had not yet seen the horrors that life would bring them. These naive children were unaware of how their dreams would be built up by the adults around them, only for the same ponies to take a hammer to the very thing they helped build.

That wasn't even the worst of the horrors they would face. Even Nightmare did not wish upon these children certain terrors. Terrors such as the angry beaver named Chuck, with his gnashing teeth and moon-hating claws.

"That beaver..."Nightmare whispered with a deep shudder.

"Are you N-Nightmare?" Sweetie asked.

"Yes child. I am the princess of the night." Nightmare smugly replied, enjoying every minute of fear. "Do you fear me Sweetie Belle?"

The unicorn slowly nodded in response. Nightmare rested her armored hoof below Sweetie Belle's chin. Snake eyes peered into to Sweetie Belle's face while the night filly whispered an almost seductive "Good. You should." gently into her ears.

Tufts of dust flew up from the ground and a near inaudible thud hummed through the vicinity. Despite frequently telling herself she was a superior being, Nightmare could not deny she was born from a part of Luna and therefore had bits of the night goddess's personality. As Celestia was with cake, there was no stopping Luna ( or Nightmare ) when their eyes set sight on a certain food. It was the one thing Nightmare could not resist; a delicious spongy moon pie fresh from the oven.

Cracks ran along a foal sized crater where Nightmare previously stood. A miniature sonic rainboom complete with rainbow trail stretched from ground to sky. The Crusaders' eyes followed the lengthy rainbow trail from the crater to the clouds. High pitched squeals racked against the crusader's ears as Nightmare fell to earth, landing directly atop the moon pie.

Sharp fangs snapped the pie in two without hesitation, scraping along a patch of dirt to go with it. Young teeth crashed together then came undone, repeating the cycle until the spongy pie was little more than a slimy brown mush.

The Crusaders gagged as Nightmare chomped down into the pie. Their disgust was only furthered when she made pleased moans, bits of food stuffs dribbling from her mouth.

"More! For the love of Celestia! More!" Nightmare yelled, latching onto Twilight's face with a crazed look in her eye.

Applebloom stared in wonder at the sight of Nightmare Moon screaming for a treat. In a split second, any fear she felt dissipated into nothing. Joy bubbled inside her, creeping up her throat into her mouth. Yellow hooves pressed against the farmer's mouth in attempt her keep her amusement hidden. Soft snickers escaped her lips, tearing down her barriers. The young apple farmer fell to the floor laughing. Sweetie and Scootaloo faced similar circumstances, holding their a hoof to their mouths, failing miserably at hiding their amusement.

"What? Why are laughing? Stop laughing! I am the princess of the night and you will fear me!" Nightmare cried, her voice cracking in mid sentence. The Crusaders' fits of laughter grew into an uproar, drowning out the monster's complaints.

Deep blue arcane energy covered Nightmare's horn. Fuming with anger, she aimed her weapon at the giggling pile and called upon her dark magics to smite them. Three seconds of magical glow passed with no smiting whatsoever. At Sugarcube Corner the same dark energy hummed inside the Cake's oven.

Opening the steel door, Mr. Cake unveiled his latest confection; a large, moist peanut butter cake, topped with chocolate. Quickly he took note of the odd dark glow emanating from his scrumptious creation and leaned in to inspect the strange phenomenon. In response to his intrusion the cake expanded, grew tentacles, produced three eyes of caramel, and wrapped it's dripping buttery tendrils around his throat.

At the library, Nightmare looked about in confusion. Dust covered the coats of the crusaders, who were rolling around in joy. Irritated by the Crusader's amusement, the goddess turned to storm back into the library.

"Play with them or you won't be getting moon pies for a month." Twilight threatened.

"What!? That's just evil!" Nightmare declared. Twilight raised a brow, unsure if the child caught the stunning irony of her own words.

"You need to shave your eyebrows." the alicorn remarked.

She didn't.

"Just go play with them." Twilight commanded. Uttering a few curse words no filly should have known, Nightmare begrudgingly trotted up to the smiling fillies.

"That was hilarious. I can't believe we thought you were supposed to be scary." Scootaloo wiped a joyous tear from her eye and smiled. The dark goddess of night snarled at her remark. Urges to hit the orange pegasus quickly became harder to resist with every word the child uttered. "I'm Scootaloo." The pegasus said with a wide smile bolted onto her face.

"I'm quite aware who you all are. Scootaloo, the rainbow pegasus's fangirl; Sweetie Ball, the clothes designers sister; and Appleblossom, the farmer's daughter."

"Sweetie Belle." the curly-maned filly corrected.

"Applejack ain't mah mom!" Applebloom barked.

"From what I've been briefed on, you three 'crusade' for cutie marks. I shall assume that is what we will be doing. Pray tell. What exactly does that entail?" Nightmare inquired in complete ignorance of Applebloom's outburst.

Wide grins, foreshadowing a terrible fate for the dark alicorn, stretched across the three friends' faces. Six hooves wrapped around Nightmare like tentacles, leaving no time to scream or resist. By the time the black filly could open her mouth, a deep blue helmet replaced her azure head piece.

"What the bu-" she tried to scream, but was quickly silenced when the garden of hooves that was the Crusaders slammed her into a red wagon. Shoved by the force of three excited fillies attempting to push by, Nightmare's helmet wobbled and fell over her eyes, temporarily blinding her. Soon soft buzzes filled the air and the sensation of motion came into being under Nightmare's rear.

"I'll get you for this, Sparkle!" Nightmare threatened before being drug away by the town's most notorious children. Twilight chuckled at the threat.

Under the wagon multiple stones gently rocked the vessel, furthering Nightmare's irritation while she pried at the head protection with her rear legs.

"Pop" went the air around her when the large head piece gave way, returning vision to young Nightmare's eyes. Her gaze rested on the yellow and white fillies accompanying her on the trip to lord knew where.

"Where are you three taking me." the alicorn hissed softly. Rage and fury burned hot in her tone.

"Miss Colgate said we can help her out with her dentist work." Sweetie Belle happily exposited, the exposed bits of her curled mane bouncing at every word.

Warm air filled the lungs of the trio. Joyful mouths hung open, in taking all the air they could hold. Nightmare leaned in to berate them on whatever it was they were doing. She was met with a deafening roar.

"Cutie Mark Crusader Dental Assistants! Yay!" they screamed to the heavens.

Nightmare gritted her teeth, greatly bothered by the shout. Letting the ring in her ears pass, she turned to side to take in the passing surroundings. Multiple forms of pony zipped by in her vision, each cheerfully taking to whatever activity they had at the moment. However, the alicorn noticed a common trait in all the equines they passed. Every one of them took time from their activity to shoot an angry scowl her way.

Used to hatred, Nightmare only bothered to focus on one. A stallion with a coat as black as night (obviously painted on as his natural brown coat broke through in many spots) with a deep blue mane, also painted on. His blue eyes shined in the light pouring through the tree he hid behind. At the sight of Nightmare, an eerie grin slid across his lips.

Nightmare raised a brow at the stallion but ignored him in favor of the next sight to behold. Coming across Sugarcube corner, all the Crusaders -plus their alicorn compatriot- turned head at the strange scene unfolding.

Pinkie stood ready with a massive candy cane battle axe in mouth. Twenty feet away from her rose a behemoth of sugar, flour, and eggs. Sweet buttery substance oozed from it spongy pores, giving off a wonderful peanut scent. Mr. and Mrs. Cake yelled as the being whipped them about in its sticky yellow tendrils. Pinkie wiped the beast's butterscotch secretions across her face to ready herself for battle.

Slender pink legs pushed against the ground and sent Pinkie charging into the air, where she would meet the beast one on one in mortal combat.

"Do ya'll hear music?" the apple farmer asked.

"Mortal Kombat!" screamed a voice out of nowhere, accompanying mysterious rock and roll.

Nightmare paused for a moment to soak in the idiocy before moaning "Just drive."

...

Despite the earlier odd happenings, the remainder of the Crusaders' trip proved peaceful. At least as long as Nightmare ignored the children's incessant bantering about their cutie marks.

"There's Colgate's office!" Scootaloo cried.

"Thank Faust." Nightmare responded, her head buried as deep as it could possibly go into her helmet.

Structurally, Colgate's office resembled a tooth, which Nightmare found fitting for a mare of her profession. Atop the structure rested a massive brush pushing back and forth in an endless cycle. Each brush brought about a wave of bubbles from under the bristles. Pushed away by the massive brush, the bubbles slid quickly down the sides of the tooth.

In front of Colgate's office stood the titular dentist, cavorting with a stallion. The stallion was a medially dark shade of blue. His mane was near white, but filled with hints of blue. Atop his head sat a massive horn, larger than any the fillies had seen before. Unlike other horns, which rounded off at the end, his jutted out further till it reached a single point.

Currently this stallion wore a smug smile as he spoke to the mare, occasion whipping his tail toward her, probably attempting to brush her legs. His smile soon turned to a vicious scowl when Nightmare and the Crusaders came into view.

"Thanks again for the help Colgate." he said.

"No problem. Anything I can do to help the community." She said with a smile, prompting him to leave.

Nightmare watched the scowling stallion trot away, her eyes locked onto his the whole time.

"Hello Crusaders!" Colgate softly shouted, gently trotting toward them.

"Hi Colgate." All the fillies but Nightmare responded.

"So. Are you ready to enter the wondrous world of floss and plaque?" Colgate asked, wearing an calm yet eerie smile.

Nightmare stepped back a few paces. Colgate was quick to notice, her eyes turning to the eldritch child (especially her mouth).

"It's going to be wonderful. I'm going to show you all the places on your teeth that make little fillies scream in pain and agony." She hissed, keeping the presentation of a friendly neighborhood dentist.

Sky blue energy wrapped around the children's frames before it jerked them into the air. Each filly released a shriek at the shock of being lifted without warning. Colgate paid no heed to their discomfort, instead she drug them into her abode of drills and hygiene.

"Alright you succulent little fillies. What do you know about dentistry?"

"It hurts." said Scootaloo.

"Pinkie is scared of it." responded Sweetie Belle

"Ah have to brush mah teeth twice a day or th' tooth fairy will come an' beat me." Applebloom replied.

"The hay is dental hygiene?" Nightmare asked.

"Well. I think we have our first volunteer." Colgate happily exposited. An almost evil smile formed on her face.

"Volunteer?" Nightmare wore an expression of confusion. A plastic mask laying to her right came to life via Colgate's unicorn aura and made its way to Nightmare's face.

Suspicion was the child's natural instinct. No pony around town particularly liked the alicorn, so why would this creepy unicorn be any different. Strangely all that went away as the cup floated toward her.

Purple gas snaked from the mask, into the child's nostrils. At first, Nightmare struggled against the mysterious gas, but soon her hooves halted their flails and fell silent to the ground. Fear, hate, anger, all her usual emotions faded away to make way for a sensation of pure bliss.

Nightmare laid on the floor, foam dribbling out of her crooked smile.

"Is she supposed to be like that?" Applebloom asked.

"Indeed." Colgate answered far too happily. "Now stay there. I'm going to need your help." The snap of rubber gloves accompanied her declaration. The stench of plastic and mint drifted off the unicorn, passing onto Nightmare when the unicorn lifted the alicorn off the ground and into the dentist's chair. Colgate's threatening grin grew wider.

"Let's begin." She stated, wearing a malevolent smile.

Forty five minutes later, a melody of pattering hooves floated from the office. Nightmare strode out into the bright light, groaning when it scratched against her eyes. The crusaders followed their alicorn associate out of the massive tooth, careful not to let the excess suds from the top drip onto their coats. Though they wouldn't say it out loud, Nightmare's gas induced behavior amused them.

"Nah Applebum. You wuz a hippo when the mare be cleanin' muh grill. Yuz even shot the lazers from you eyes." Nightmare drawled, picking herself up from the ground. "a-and Scootaloo had a biiiiiig ol' beard. Heh. An' Sweetie was roo-but."

"Are you ah'right?" Applebloom asked, trying to hide a smile.

"Nah baby. Ah Clean." Nightmare spoke with a drooling smile on her face. A second later she fell over giggling like a madmare.

One full minute passed before the alicorn spoke again. Angry growls ripped from her throat, signaling to the Crusaders she was feeling better. Nightmare's returned to her hooves, her body mimicking the motion of a pendulum perfectly.

"I don't like that mare." She spat. "What's next on your list. Tell me it's far away from here." Her words were slow and choppy, still partially under the influence of the purple gas.

Sweetie Belle caressed the underside of her chin, trying to remember what the next of many tasks they had planned out was.

"We're going to Sweet Apple Acres." She exclaimed, holding up her hoof as if to point to something.

"Yeah. We're gonna see if cider makin' is our special talent!" Applebloom exposited.

"Cider? What's cider?" The Crusaders mouth's fell open. The alicorn swore she heard the creaking of metal leak from their jaws as they swung softly in the air.

"You ain't tried cider yet!? Well ya gotta try it now! Maybe ya'll won't be so grumpy if ya'll have some!" the apple farmer cried.

"I highly doubt that. I hate all of you. Have I not made that obvious? Honestly. Why aren't you running away?!" Nightmare shouted, her hooves fumbling against the rims of the steel wagon. Falling twice, Nightmare forced herself through a strange dizziness plaguing her and made her way into the vehicle.

"Well. Twah'light said you ain't got no powers and Princess Luna said we gotta be play with ya'll." Applebloom answered, following Nightmare into the wagon alongside Sweetie Belle.

"That doesn't explain why you lack the common sense to run from me."

"Granny Smith says there's some good in everypony. Even them sales ponies who done tried to take our house."

"Sales ponies tried to take your house? That's just...wrong." The remaining two crusader's raised their brows. "Eternal night you all deserved, none of you ponies paid any attention to my wondrous night. But taking away homes, even I'm not that evil."

"Um. Actually Nightmare. Ah kinda like th' night. Not eternal night, jus' th' night." Applebloom said nervously. Under her, the wagon's wheels gained speed, bumping upward against every rock. The farmer focused on the black filly, rather than the gentle bumps of a wagon.

"Go on." Nightmare brushed a hoof against the air, occupying her remaining hoof with the task of adjusting her recently reequipped armor head piece.

"It's real fun fer sleepovers! " Sweetie Belle nodded in agreement with Applebloom.

"And the stars?" Nightmare questioned with a hint of eagerness in her tone.

"They're real purty too. 'specially durin' Zap Apple Harvest." Applebloom told the eldritch child.

"I think I like you, Applebloom was it? More fillies should be as wise as you."

Not too far behind the Crusaders, Colgate went about her business. She checked her toothbrushes, checked her floss, and checked her tools. This had been the fifth check today, few knew Colgate was somewhat anal retentive. Gently she clasped a tube of toothpaste and spread the mixture inside onto her brush. Commanding the brush to her mouth, she began to rub the paste vigorously against her teeth, releasing a loud pleased groan with every stroke.

Minutes later, she withdrew the brush from her mouth, panting hard. After washing it she brought the bristle to her face. Her soft lips slipped over the bristles.

"Oh Brushy." she moaned. "Oh Brushy! I love you." she cried, planting kisses firmly on the brush's bristles.

"Am I interrupting anything?" asked a long horned stallion in the office entrance.

"Augh! Pokey!" Colgate screamed, hiding the brush. "What do you want?"

"Did it work?" he asked, eyeing the plastic mask Colgate previously placed on Nightmare.

"She'll be still as a statue when you meet her."

"Good. Then I must be off! I must serve my community!" He exclaimed before running back out the door.

"Freak..." Colgate muttered

Dust rose from the ground, creating a trail behind Pokey Peirce. The wind brushed against his hair, forcing it to tumble like laundry as he stormed ahead. His hooves pounded furiously against the dirt, propelling him forward toward his target. Upon reaching the destination, a statue in the middle of town, he skidded to a stop to allow the wind to caress his mane while he begun a monologue.

"Oh vile beast of black and magic. You shall not get away. I shall avenge those you have wronged, beast of nightmare and eldritch terror. I, Sir Pokey Pierce of the Court of Fluttershy shall slay thee! Then I shall present thine wings as a trophy and woo fair Lady Shy! Then I shall woo Lady Pinkie as well!" Pokey said to the air around him.

"Mithta. Why are you talking to yourthelf?" Asked a filly beside him.

"Off I go!" He cried, knocking a pair of large red glasses off the filly and bruising her face with his gesticulating leg. Bright light filled the vicinity and with a flash Pokey pierce disappeared.

About a half mile ahead, the Crusaders were discussing uses of apples with Nightmare.

"It quite strange, but apples can ward off certain ghosts." Nightmare claimed.

"What? No they can't. Ghosts don't even exist." Scootaloo objected, turning her head slightly as to keep a good view of the road.

"They do, and some hate apples." She paused to wrinkle her nose "Hmph. Ghosts are the least worrisome monster you can find though." An evil smirk painted itself onto Nightmare's face. Nothing heinous was being planned, that much the Crusaders were sure of, but it was clear Nightmare knew something none of them did. Immediately their curiosity raised.

"What do you mean?" Sweetie Belle asked. Instinctively she clutched her tail, pulling it to her chest as if it were protection.

"Ghosts are little more than ants compared to some of the things out there. There are beasts that challenged Me and Celestia's mother in the time before time itself existed. I think the closest description your modern words could conjure would be 'eldritch abomination'." the filly smiled coyly.

"They sound real scareh." Applebloom stuttered out.

"You have no idea". Immediately a flash sparked in front of the wagon.

Heart skipping a beat, Scootaloo fell back onto the metal rims of the red wagon, her scooter continuing to press forward without her. Encouraged by the orange pegasus's weight, the wagon tilted forward, unloading it's passengers atop the orange filly. Her scooter rolled as far as could until the rope attaching it to the wagon reached its maximum length, then it jerked back, flying into Scootaloo.

A collective groan rose from the pile of fillies under the overturned wagon. Around them the world spun and blurred. Sweetie Belle pressed her horn against a red blob she assumed was the wagon and flipped the object. Noisy metallic clanks proved her theory to be correct. Finished with the steel vehicle, Sweetie Belle outstretched her hooves to help up her friends, all the while taking notice of a strange blue blur.

All rising to their hooves, the fillies stared at the azure blur in their vision. Quickly their world became crisper and more in focus. Now able to see, they beheld before them the notorious balloon popper of Ponyville, Pokey Pierce.

"Mister Pokey? What are you doing here." Scootaloo asked.

"Hush child! I am here to cleanse Ponyville of this black monstrosity!" Seemingly out of nowhere a gentle wind blew across the unicorn's face, waving about his hair as if he were a romance novel hero. Closer inspection would reveal it to be simple horn magic.

"Mister Pokey. Ya'll ain't allowed to hurt Nightmare. Remember, at the town meetin'? Mayor said th' princesses don't want Nightmare bein' hurt." Applebloom stated.

"The beast has clouded your mind, child. Don't worry! I will protect you!" Light blue energy covered Pokey's horn. Applebloom raised a hoof to object to Pokey's actions, but immediately disappeared in flash of light. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were given no time to question Pokey, when they too disappeared in a flash, along with the wagon and scooter.

Fear surged through Nightmare's bones. Perhaps Pokey sensed this fear, because he began to smile and lick his lips when he turned to face the child. Mentally screaming at the fear to leave her be, Nightmare set her horn aglow.

Not too far away, Chuck the beaver materialized beside the Crusaders, covered in a dark glow.

"Come on girl's! We gotta save Nightmare!" Applebloom cried out. The other two Crusaders were somewhat hesitant to help the creature who once tried to bring about eternal night. However, they knew if they didn't the princesses would be disappointed, or worse, mad.

The saliva in the goddess's mouth drained quickly, leaving her mouth a barren desert. Reptilian eyes quivered at the sight of a smug smiled Pokey making his way leisurely toward the child. Common sense told her to run away and hide behind something. Her alicorn side told her to essentially be a suicidal pony and try to fight him. She found herself incapable of doing either, fear overtaking her body.

Blue energy caressed her frame. Gravity made an exception for Nightmare and allowed Pokey to telekinetically pluck her from The ground.

"Any last words monster?" Pokey positioned Nightmare's head directly above his horn. Nightmare choked out something about not wanting to die. "Nothing? Good. Nopony cares what you have to say anyway."

"Cutie Mark Crusader Beaver Tossers! Yay!"

"Huh?"

Vicious moon-hating claws sped through the air. Fur and teeth latched tightly to Pokey's face. Chuck had discovered the one thing he despised more than the moon: the smell of Pokey pierce. Long buckteeth sank into Pokey's flesh, horn, whatever Chuck could reach.

Pokey howled in pain as he fell back. Around Nightmare, the blue aura that bound her against the force of gravity faded away. She produced a squeak akin to squeaky toy when she struck the ground.

"Cutie Mark Crusader Alicorn Savers! Yay!" the three children cried. Once more the six hooves of the trio wrapped around Nightmare to drag her off. However, this time it was not unwelcome. If it meant getting away from certain death, she would take it.

Minutes later, the door to the library flew open with a loud crash, striking the wall beside with enough force to leave a visible dent. A mix of colors piled through the entrance. The Crusaders shoved Nightmare into the library with the force of a bulldozer. Again, the door produced a deafening crash as the trio forced the door shut.

"Twah'Light! Mister Pokey's gone crazeh! He's tryin' to hurt Nightmare real bad!" Applebloom screamed.

Thump. The book Twilight read slammed shut, her focus now directed elsewhere. Lavender eyes turned themselves from the thick brown leather cover onto the mish mash of colors that was the Crusaders plus one. Annoyance washed across the unicorn's face.

"I'll take care of him..." She muttered. Twilight wasn't that surprised somepony wanted to kill Nightmare Moon. So many ponies hated Nightmare just because of what she was, Twilight knew an eventual attack was inevitable. She just hadn't expected it to be so soon.

"Lock the door while I put up a force field."

"Alright, Twilight." Scootaloo squeaked. The click of lock mechanisms became music to Twilight's ears.

Groaning she turned to head into the bowels of her book filled abode in search of a strong force field spell. Quietly she whispered a rant about never being able to finish her book, before beginning a trot. Her annoyance rose a little when Nightmare began request.

"Sparkle. Do you possess any cider?"

"I have a cup or two in the ice box. Why do you want it?" Twilight asked, suspicious of Nightmare's motives.

"Give it to me. Applebloom has informed me that this beverage is good." Twilight tilted her head in confusion. Nightmare had never before shown interest in anything modern. Immediately her eyes caught a small smile staining the filly's lips. Twilight grew a small smile of her own at the sight.

"Nightmare?" Twilight began.

"What?" she groaned, annoyed Twilight wasn't getting the cider.

"Did you learn anything today?"

"Actually. Yes. Your little friendship propaganda. It's not that bad." Nightmare paused a minute before she continued. "Don't think I'm about to obey you though. Your foalish 'friendship' is still pointless and terrible, just not that bad."

Twilight rolled her eyes and said "It's a start."

"Get me my cider, Sparkle..."

...

Far off, a painted black stallion stood in the darkness of a secluded room, hovering over an altar. His blue eyes and painted azure mane shimmered in the faint light of his candles. Breathing heavily he whispered "Oh Beautiful Nightmare. Hear my prayer. I have found thy vessel. I ask of you, give me strength to deliver it. Make the true believers of night strong. Praise be to the Nightmare."

In the shadows, a thousand inky black tendril spilled onto the floor. They slithered about the stallion like snakes, secreting a color not on any visible spectrum. Hundreds of eyes opened in their darkness to scan the pony, to see his worth. In the pitch black a thousand teeth bared themselves and smiled their approval.


End file.
